KATHMANDU, April 30: The government amended the Public Procurement Regulations (14th Regulation) about 14 months after revising the 13th Regulation. The official gazette published the amended regulation last Monday.
The amendment makes it easier for contractors to receive an extension of deadlines for projects that did not get an extension within the prescribed time due to various reasons. The revision allows contractors to extend the deadline again if they cannot complete the work within the newly added time frame, provided they meet certain conditions.
The 13th Amendment allowed an extension of the deadline one final time. During the extended period, if the work was not completed, a penalty of 0.05 percent of the total contract amount per day was imposed, and it could be applied for up to 200 days.
If the work remained unfinished after paying the penalty for 200 days, the contract could be terminated. Under this provision, the Gwarko Overpass project applied a daily penalty of 85,000 rupees starting from December 22. The latest amendment removes the requirement to apply a daily penalty of 0.05 percent if the deadline is not extended on time.
Govt amends Public Procurement Regulation to extend contract fo...
Amit Sharma, Information Officer at the Department of Roads, stated that the 14th amendment of the procurement regulations will extend the deadlines for nearly 200 projects under the department. "The 14th Amendment has opened the way to extend the deadlines for nearly 200 projects whose deadlines had expired on various dates," Sharma said.
He added that the department is currently managing 2,100 projects, of which 153 are struggling. Of the projects set to receive deadline extensions under the 14th Amendment, about 200 are of a medium scale.
The 14th amendment states, "If any work under the procurement contract remains incomplete within the specified deadline due to any reason, and the procurement contract has expired or the deadline could not be extended, the concerned supplier, contractor, consultant, or service provider can submit a request to the relevant public entity within 30 days from the date of the amendment. The request must explain which tasks were not completed and the reasons for the delay, provide a revised schedule, and include a commitment not to make additional financial claims due to the deadline extension."
The amendment also outlines several conditions for extending deadlines. These include situations where the Government of Nepal, the cabinet, or a public entity delayed the implementation of the procurement contract for any reason, where budget allocation lapses occurred for the annual program, where payments could not be made due to budget shortfalls, and where compensation events (such as failure to provide the site or design on time) took place.
The 14th Amendment requires contractors to submit requests for extending project deadlines within 30 days from the date of publication in the official gazette. The concerned authorities must make a decision on the extension within 30 days of receiving the request. The amendment also states, "If the relevant officials or employees fail to make a timely decision on the deadline extension, the concerned authority must initiate departmental action according to existing laws."
The 14th Amendment benefits contractors by removing the requirement for pre-determined compensation during the extended period. The amended regulations specify, "If the concerned supplier, contractor, consultant, or service provider fails to submit a request for the extension within the specified time or does not complete the work within the extended period as per the agreement, the procurement contract will be terminated."
The 14th Amendment states that if the work under a project with an extended deadline is not completed within the new period, the concerned party can submit a request to extend the procurement contract period within 30 days from the expiry date of the extended period, according to the amended regulations.
